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Ten new NCSE Teacher Ambassadors will be gathering together in March to revise lessons and plan their work with local colleagues. They represent talented, accomplished professionals teaching climate change in areas of the country where that can sometimes prove to be ideologically controversial.

John Cook knows a thing or two about climate change misconceptions and he’s on a mission to help teachers and students leverage those misconceptions into fruitful, engaging, evidence-based learning opportunities.

We welcomed our first eight NCSEteach Teacher Ambassadors in February through the Turning Misinformation into Educational Opportunities (TMEO) Workshop at George Mason University. This group of teachers developed a unit of 5 hands-on lessons on climate change and field tested them throughout this past semester.

One of the hardest lessons I have had to learn is that facts are not all powerful. As a scientist, I love facts. A paleontologist tells me that there is a 365-million-year-old fishlike thing with eight fingers that is an ancient cousin to tetrapods? Amazing! Where can we find more like it?

In a new exciting venture with several partners, I have come to greatly appreciate the many science-based resources for teachers housed at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).